The invention relates to a direct bond electric circuit assembly, and more particularly to an improved assembly structure and manufacturing method providing hermetic sealing in combination.
Electric circuit assemblies in the field of the present invention typically include an electrically insulating thermally conductive non-metallic refractory substrate, e.g. ceramic, having electrically conductive metallic lead frames, e.g. copper, mounted on the substrate, and electrical components, e.g. semiconductor chips, mounted on the lead frames. The structure is covered by an insulating housing which in turn is mounted to a heat sink such that the bottom surface of the ceramic substrate is in intimate contact with the heat sink. Examples of such circuit assemblies are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,958,075, 4,156,148, 4,196,411, 4,215,235, 4,218,724, 4,250,481, 4,266,140, 4,394,530, 4,449,165, 4,449,292, 4,488,202, 4,498,120, 4,546,410, 4,546,411, 4,554,613, 4,574,162, 4,577,387, 4,630,174, 4,700,273, 4,713,723, 4,724,514.
The copper lead frames are mounted to the ceramic in various manners, for example by a solder reflow operation, or by a direct bond operation, both of which processes are known in the art.
Direct bonding of the copper to the ceramic involves placing the lead frame in contact with the ceramic, heating the lead frame and the ceramic substrate to a temperature below the melting point of the lead frame to form a eutectic with the lead frame which wets the lead frame and the ceramic substrate, and cooling the lead frame and the substrate with the lead frame bonded to the substrate. The lead frame is per-oxidized, and the heating is done in an inert atmosphere, or alternatively the heating is done in a reactive oxygen gas atmosphere. The direct bond process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,744,120, 3,766,634, 3,854,892, 3,911,553, 3,993,411, 3,994,430, 4,129,243, and further reference may be had to "Over 50 years of experience with the Direct Bond Copper Process", Tegmen Corp., 1201 East Fayette Street, Syracuse, New York.
The present invention uses direct bond processing and provides a simple and effective hermetic sealed circuit package.